Method of and apparatus for air conditioning



y 15,1941 P. SCHLUMBOHM 2,249,621

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR AIR CONDITIONING Filed April 12, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet l 0 w JPN/W1 37 W 1 "I'I 354 WW/l 51 INVE NTOR y 9 1941- P. SCHLUMBOHM 2,249,621

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR AIR CONDITIONING Filed April 12, 1939 3 SheetQs-Sheet 2' 15 INVENTOR TzM/.WI

July as, 194 1..

P. SCHLUMBOHM METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR AIR CONDITIONING Filed April 12. 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented July 15, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR AIR CONDITIONING Peter Schlumbohm, New York, N. Y.

Application April 12, 1939, Serial No. 267,410 In Germany April 13, 1938 3 Claims.

' pressed to atm. or atm. "Such a compression ratio requires much work, and it would be hopeless to base an air conditioning method on thistype of process and machinery.

It is the object of the invention to achieve a.

dehumidification of the air with a minimum of compression work. The problem is solved by utilizing the principle of a pressure equalizing gasin a tubular system to maintain separately from each other a hot zone with a high partial vapor pressure of water anda cold zone with a low partial vapor pressure of water. The air itself is used as such a pressure equalizing gas. Furthermore, a new kind of condenser apparatus is applied, which is so designed that all condensate will flow away from the cold zone and will not interfere with establishing there a zone to the coldest available cooling water. I call this zone the air receiver.

The invention opens new possibilities for anplying steam jet compressors for compressing air, as will be evidenced below.

There are two types of water cooled condensers: the 'surface condenser, in which the cooling water is separated from the condenser space by a wall: and the spray condenser, .in which a spray of cold water is injected into the condenser space. Both types may be used in connection with the present invention. A spray condenser has in the case of the invention the advantage, that the air is actually cooled to the temperature of the cooling water, without sacrificing five to ten degrees for a heat transfer through a separating wall as in surface condensers. Surface condensers, on the other hand, have the advantage of less turbulence within the condenser space.

The invention is illustrated by way of examples in Fig. l-Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view with parts shown in elevation. Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are also vertical sectional views with parts shown in elevation. Fig. 1 shows a modification which utilizes a spray condenser, while the two different modifications as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 both utilize surface condensers.

Fig. 1 illustrates a condenser 32 into which air, taken in by tube Ill, is compressed by means of a jet compressor I. The condenser is a very ,of such low water 'vapor pressure as corresponds v long vertical tube and the air meets with the cold cooling water in a countercurrent. A plate 31 with holes 38 distributes the cooling water. The upper part of the condenser is the air re'- ceiver, from which air is withdrawn by pipe 36,

controlled by valve 35. The cooling water is circulated by a pump 46 and recooled in a heat exchanger 48. Keeping this circuit underpressure of the condenser 32 is economical; the pump 46 has to build up only the hydrostatic column in pipe 39 and has not to operate against the pressure of the condenser. The condenser may also be operated as a surface condenser by means of the water jacket 34.

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 illustrate the application of an U shaped condenser, with vertical stems. A

steam jet compressor is shown as compressing air into the condenser. Fig. 2 shows a single stage compression structure, and-Fig. 3 a three stage compression.

As shown in Fig.2 and Fig. 3, the air, compressed by the jet of the jet compressor l, enters at the top of the one vertical stem of the U- shaped condenser 2 and passes in a downward direction. This, stem is cooled by a water jacket 3 in a countercurrent and should always be built as a surface condenser. The ascending other vertical stem, however, which in the drawings is by warmer water in the condenser, the compressed air will in the air receiver at the zone of the entering cooling waterftube 30) have the lowest partial water vapor pressure in the whole condenser.

In the air receiver the compressed air has a relative humidity of 100%. This is computed on the temperature produced in the wind receiver by the cooling water. For the control of the final degree of humidity it is very convenient, that following the invention-first a degree of 100% is created as a base for further manipulations. The final degree of humidity can be controlled by two factors: (a) the ratio of compression in the air receiver and .(b) the degree of warming up of the air above the temperature This means, that if a conditioned air of e. g. 85 F. and 50% humidity shall be produced, the compression ratio may be much below 1:2.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the compressed air is withdrawn from the air receiver by means of valve 5 and pipe 9. It is practical to provide a pressure reduction valve 8 and to partially expand the air, if the pipe 9 passes through zones of lower temperatures than existent in the air receiver. The degree of expansion would be so chosen, that at such lower temperatures no condensation of water in pipe 9 would take place.

The air in pipe 9 may, for instance, be subjected to additional cooling in a heat exchanger I and may then be withdrawn from pipe 9 through valve ll andpipe l2. Air not withdrawn through valve ll may be subjected to further cooling in a second heat exchanger l3 and may then be distributed at this lower temperature through valve l and line I4 or through valve l6 and line IT. The flow of cooling water is indicated by simple arrows and the flow of air is indicated by feathered arrows. If necessary, one might even provide a second pressure reduction valve between the cooler l0 and thecooler 13 in pipe 9.

In Fig. 3 a three stage compression by means of three steam jet compressors l, I and I is illustrated. A condenser 2, 2 and 2" is coordinated to each jet compressor in accordance with the construction as shown in Fig. 2. The air receiver of the first condenser 2 is connected by tube 23 to the air intake of the second jet compressor; the air receiver of the second condenser 2' is connected by tube 24 to the intake of the third jet compressor l" and the compressed air is taken from the third wind receiver by valve 5' and pipe 9', valve 21 and pipe 28. From the pipe 20 which carries away the used cooling water of the condenser 2, a pipe 29 is branched 011 to' heat the air in pipe 9 in a heat exchanger 26, for the purpose as explained above.

Such condensers 32 and 2 will be-within limits-the more emcient the longer they are. They may be conveniently installed at the outside wall of a house, using the total height of the wall, and the U-shaped type facilitates the installation.

It has been my special ambition to create an air conditioning system which should be based on the most elementary commodity of mankind: steam. The low compression ratio, which is the result of .the present invention, as required for the dehumidification of air in the type of condenser described, is the first chance for steam ejectors in the field of air conditioning. Steam ejectors are very capable of compressing large quantities of air, but with increasing ratio of compression the apparatus becomes uneconomical.

The advantage of the steam ejector is not only its lack of moving parts. In this case, the steam contributes to the important task of purifying the air. Air mixed with the hot steam will be sterilized. Moreover, when condensing, the steam will use the dust particles as condensation cores, and after the condensation the air will be free of dust.

Perhaps the most important feature of an air conditioning system based on steam is its workability throughout all seasons of the year without any mechanical change. The heat of the condenser will be ample to heat the house in winter by heating the conditioned air as illustrated in Fig. 3. The installation may, of course,

becompleted by controls like thermostats and thermovalves as generally in use in the air conditioning industry.

The application of steam ejectors would be facilitated where steam is piped throughout a city from a central boiler station. Furthermore, the system seems to have great advantages on ships, where steam and cooling water are abundant.

Having now described the nature of my invention and shown by way of examples the manner in which it may be performed, I am asking to include logical variations of the system as chvious to the engineer schooled in the art in the following claims.

I claim:

1. The method. of air-conditioning, comprising the step of compressing the air by means of propellant live steam into a tubular condensing space, the step of utilizing the air as pressureequalizing gas to maintain throughout the tubular condensing space the pressure created at the inlet zone of the condensing space by said steam, the step of lowering the partial pressure of the water vapor at the end-zone of the condensing space by means of fresh cooling water substantially to the saturation pressure corresponding to the temperature of said fresh cooling water and the step of withdrawing air from said endzone while maintaining said pressure-equalizing partial pressure of air by fresh air compressed by said steam.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising the step of cooling the withdrawn air in an after-cooling zone to a temperature below the temperature of the cooling water cooling said end-zone and the step of avoiding condensation of water at said lower temperature by expanding the withdrawn air to the extent of securing a less than humidity of the air passing through said after-cooling zone, whil maintaining a pressure above atmospheric pressure in said after-cooling zone.

3. Air-conditioning apparatus, comprising means to compress the air by means of a steamjet into a tubular, water-cooled countercurrent condenser, means to utilize the air as pressureequalizing gas to maintain throughout the condenser the pressure created at the inlet zone of the condenser by said steam-jet, means to lower the partial pressure of the water vaporat the end-zone of the condenser by means of fresh cooling water substantially to the saturation pressure corresponding to the temperature of said fresh cooling water, means to withdraw air from said end-zone while maintaining said pressure-equalizing partial pressure of air by fresh air compressed by said steam-jet; means to compress the withdrawn air by a second steam-jet into a second tubular, water-cooled countercurrent condenser, means to utilize said withdrawn air as pressure-equalizing gas to maintain throughout the second condenser the pressure created by said second steam-jet, means to lower the partial pressure of the water vapor at the end-zone of said second condenser by means of fresh cooling water substantially to the saturation pressure corresponding to the temperature of said fresh cooling water and means to withdraw air from said end-zone of said second condenser while maintaining said pressure-equalizing partial pressure of air by fresh air compressed by said second steam-jet.

PETER SCHLUIWBOHM. 

